Boston mayoral hopefuls make their case as to why they are best

Monday

Jul 20, 2009 at 12:01 AMJul 20, 2009 at 8:10 PM

“There’s ambition,” said Mayor Thomas Menino when asked about his competition in the five-man mayoral race. “[Other candidates] see a mayor that’s been here for 16 years, and they’re out there talking to the voters of Boston because they believe they can do a better job.”

Pat B. Tarantino

“There’s ambition,” said Mayor Thomas Menino when asked about his competition in the five-man mayoral race. “[Other candidates] see a mayor that’s been here for 16 years, and they’re out there talking to the voters of Boston because they believe they can do a better job.”

Although Boston voters have generally favored incumbents, candidates Sam Yoon, Michael Flaherty, Kevin McCrea and write-in candidate William Feegbeh feel that the 2009 elections will be a political turning point.{}Candidates are focusing their efforts on issues such as government spending, public and charter schools, city development and union contracts as the primary talking points early in the race.

“People are getting tired of the politics of the past,” said Yoon. “We live in a city starved for new ideas and fresh faces.”

As the recession continues, candidates are reviewing city spending and offering alternative solutions in an effort to avoid tax increases while maintaining and improving service. Flaherty pointed to a $2 million line item meant to maintain some 1,074 vehicles used by city managers both on and off the clock while chastising the current administration for considering “laying off essential employees and ending critical services” while maintaining these programs.

Meanwhile, Yoon claims to have located some $74 million in city funds that could be cut if voters elect a mayor willing to “clean up the city’s act,” citing Boston’s aging fire boxes as a $3 million program that is rarely used and often results in more false alarms than actual fire reports.

Countering claims that his administration has mismanaged city funding, Menino pointed to new leadership in the Boston Redevelopment Association who will be named later this week. According to Menino, the BRA will ensure developers stay on time and on budget during new construction programs, stating that the eight-year old Kenmore Square T station construction project will be re-evaluated and completed in a timely manner.

Yoon argued against the existence of the BRA, suggesting the group should be replaced by a city planning organization “accountable to taxpayers, rather than to the developers who fund [the BRA].”

He went on to call Menino’s plan to integrate the Boston Transit Authority into the BRA as a “really scary proposition.”

Menino defended the BRA, saying it has controlled the growth of the city and preserved the skyline, keeping Boston from falling victim to what he termed “Manhattanization.”

Candidates also promised to create a more accountable system of performance reviews and responses to the complaints of citizens.

Menino took pride in the CRM, or Citizen Response Method, that assigns individual citizen complaints a tracking number that allows callers to periodically review efforts the city is making to review and improve a situation. He also compared quarterly status update meetings held by city department heads to the City Stats program used in other urban areas as a key element in staying abreast of civic issues.

Flaherty approved of this idea, but felt that four meetings a year would fail to solve problems in a timely manner, instead suggesting biweekly meetings “in order to catch local trends before they become major issues.”

In light of the recently publicized brownout program, which temporarily closes up to four firehouses per shift in the event division chiefs see a high number of sick calls among firefighters, every candidate came down hard on the firefighters union. Additionally, requests from the firefighters union that they be compensated for random drug and alcohol screenings drew a considerable amount of attention.{}Menino called protests by the firefighters union “political skullduggery.”

“As mayor, I would require all first responders and heavy machinery operators to undergo mandatory drug testing,” said Flaherty, who currently has the support of the firefighters union. Yoon also considers overtime abuse to be one of the most pressing budgetary concerns for the city and backed this policy.

Another major concern mentioned by many candidates was the state of Boston public schools. Menino put forward legislation earlier this week to increase the number of non-unionized, in-district charter schools, which would provide teachers with performance pay and allow the city school committee to maintain direct control over newly formed schools in their formative stages.

According to the mayor, his office will remove the charter school cap if the legislation does not pass before the end of its current session in December; however Menino’s opposition considers this move too little, too late.

“It’s nice that the mayor has seen the light after 16 years,” said Yoon. “It’s 16 years too late for thousands of children, unfortunately.”

Yoon proposed a remodeling of the Boston School Committee to incorporate both elected representatives and appointed officials as a way to minimize red tape while also representing the concerns of individual communities. Currently, officials appointed by the mayor run the school committee.

Flaherty also weighed in on the issue, calling current reform attempts a “blame game” and proposing revisions to curriculums in order to better prepare students for future careers in the fields of technology and science. Among the revisions was the possible integration of Internet-based classes as a means to allow struggling students to catch up while others can work ahead of the standard curriculum.

Although every candidate is working to voice their opinions on current city policies, Jim Spencer, chief strategist for the Yoon campaign, said that poor voter turnouts will be the greatest obstacle for challengers.

There are currently more than 335,000 registered voters in the Boston area; however, only 97,000 participated in the last mayoral election. Furthermore, Spencer claimed that 20,000 city employees working under the Menino administration will likely vote for the incumbent.